Treatment of tobacco.



No. 821,919. PATENTED MAY 29, 1906. A. C. & C. Q. BEDORTHA TREATMENT OFTOBACCO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1900.

INVENTORS A-Cf s-A GQ. BEDQRTHA,

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS,

. ess we add thereto bacteria or cultures t onrrnn S A ES) PATENTorrron.

ALFRED o. BEDORTHA'AND GEORGE o. BEDORTHA, or WINDSOR,

\ ooNNEoTwUT.

TREATMENT OF TOBACCO.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 1906.

Application filed April 19, 1900. Serial No. 13,452.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED O. BEDORTHA and GEORGE Q. BEDORTHA, citizensof the United States, and residents of Windsor, in the county ofHartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Treatment of Tobacco, of which the following is afull and true description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, showlng a form of apparatus useful in carrying out our newprocess.

The object of our invention is to treat tobacco of an inferior or lessesteemed flavor soas to give it another and more desirable flavor,thereby enhancing its commercial value.

Our invention is particularly applied to the treatment of tobaccocomprising, first, sterilizing the tobacco under such conditions andsufficiently long-continued as to destroy the original bacteria andspores egristing thereon, then adding to the sterilized tobacco bacteriaor cultures thereof to produce a new and characteristic fiavor, andsubse uently sub jecting the tobacco to fermentation.

The present invention is based upon the discovery that the sterilizationof the tobacco may be effected by subjecting it to the action of hot airand that there are certain advantages secured by practicing the hot-airprocess, notably in the treatment of-tobacco to be used as cigar-wrapers; v

We have also devise novel apparatus for subjecting tobacco to thesterilizing action of hot air.

In carrying out our invention we first subject the tobacco to the actionof hot air,

.whereby it is thoroughly sterilized and the bacteria and sporesexistingthereo'n are destroyed, and before subjecting the saidtobacco toa fermenting or ripening rocreof of the kind existing or developed uponthe higher grade tobacco at the plantations. The to acco is then piledand set aside in 'wellknown ways for the purpose of allowing the leavesto ferment or sweat or ripen.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a form of apparatus,useful in treating tobacco according to our rocess.

Figure 1 illustrates a horizonta longitudinal section of one form ofapparatus for carryingout our new process, and Fig. 2' illustrates avertical longitudinal section of the said apparatus.

sai

v heater is heated by Steam-pipes-SQ,

As illustrated, the sterilizer has an inner casing Band an outer casingC, each permanently closed at its rear end by concaved plates D E,respectively. The casingsB and- C and end plates D and E are, separatedsteam-jacket F.

G is an annular plate at the front of the sterilizer, adapted to supportthe door H hin ed thereto, as well as to haveeither the door H or asecond door or cover Y, hereinafter described, bolted thereto,

J and K indicate pipes connected with any suitable source of supply fordelivering steam I to the steam-jacket F. I

The door H is hinged to the end ring the sterilizer. Said end ring isprovide with bolts R, hinged thereto and having their outer threadedends provided with clampingnuts, so, as to swing outwardly when thecover Y is removed. The door H is provlded with radial edge slots Q, inwhich the bolts R fit when the door is shut, the door beingthen tightlylocked by screwing the clampingnuts.

Y A second door, Y, preferably made of thick heavy planking or of woodand metal, may be fitted to or removed from the open end of thesterilizer when the first-named door H is swung to an open position. Thedoor Y 1s provided with radial edge slots in positions, and preferablyin size and number also, corresponding to the slots Q in the hinged doorH. The removable door Y has two openings through it, one being at ornear the center for a'dmittin a pipe I P, which extends a considerableistance into the sterilizer, and a second, opening near to the edgeofthe door, for admitting a pipe E P, the said plpes I P and E P fittingthe said openings tightly, but removably.

- Within the sterilizer are tracks T, wh ch are of assistance when a caror truck U is employed to bring the tobacco under treatment into or outof the sterilizer.

The pipes I P and E P are connected to the incoming andioutgoiitg portsof an air heating and circulating device comprising a heater H,containing steam-heated pipes, and a connected rotary blower or fan F.

6.0 from each other by a space constituting a .70 G of second heater Zis connected by a pipe Z IIC In practicing our new process for treatingplish this, we employ a number of racks W, 1

" all bacteriaand splores shall be killed 'b piled upon a wheeled car'U, the tobacco bemg laced between the racks. The car U, whic travelsupon the tracks T, is then ushed into thesterilizer, and the door Y isolted in lace, completel closing the entrance 'to t e sterilizen e pi esI P and E P are then fitted through jsai' d 'OOI and.the'circulating-fan F is started. I This'causes air to be drawn from thesterilizer thro'u h; pipe E P, sucked through the heater (where itbecomes heated ,)and the fan then forces the heated air through the pipeI P into the sterilizer in such a position as to strike the racks on thecar and to circulate. between said racks and between the leaves of thetobacco placed thereon. After passing .through the racks the hot airreturns along the sides, bottom, and topof the steril- 1zer to the pipeE P, again pa'ssing'into theg heater. The circulation and reheating of'the air is continued until the air has reached a temperature (say 250Fahrenheit) *sufi'i, ciently high to destroy the bacteria and; sporesexisting on the tobacco. We do not? desire, however, to be understood asconfinf ing ourselves to 'the'em'ployment of any cer- "tam temperature,nor do we desire to be; understood asdeclaring'it to be-essen'tial thatsub-3 e'ac'tion of the 'c'ircu ating i It is obvious that as long as-the'tobacco is freed by the employment of hot air? from the originalbacterial growth it is im-; material, for the, purposes of ourinvention, how that is done. a y

' It is desirable to thorough] the to-' bacco before sterilizing it.therwise the j ecting them to t hot air tends to cause the moisture ofthe} leaves to be converted into steam, which boils on and in theleaves, thus causingan effeet which is similar to that roducedb'y'boiling the tobacco in water. his unless guarded against would-result in injuryto the quality and structure of theleaves. This step indrying the leaves is not that employed in the 0111i of the tobacco, butis.

a subsequent o 'e'ration. The tobacco after curing has to ecome moist,in order to be handled in thesheds without breaking and 'isfiordinajrily kept so for the fermenting proc- 'ess. Thedryin stepem'ploed by us makes possible the apglication of eat as a stem-.-

fployed, removed the pipes I the pockets we may agent without in'urytothe leaves'and shortens the time by al owing the air to penetratebetween the leaves and between the folds of the leaves, which it wouldnot do if the leaves were moist and flexible. It is to be understoodthat when we speak of 'drying tobacco we mean a drying which willcorrespond to air-drying or kilrf-drying, which is usually carried outat less than 150 Fahrenheit, and not a-drying to render the tobaccowater-free, as the term is used in chemical analysis and which isusually efiected at about 212 Fahrenheit. This drying renders bacteriavery resistant to steril-- izing influences, and especially todestruction by heat. While active "bacteria, notably certain pathogenicerms and the lactic-acid bacteria, are killed by the use'of atemperature of 160 Fahrenheit from ten to fifteen minutes, it must'berememberedthat the dry and more resistant spores, which spores is thecondition of the tobacco bacteria after drying, require a 'far'greaterheat and longer continued. than do 'the'active bacteria themselves. Inour practice we have found that at-least 250 Fahrenheit, lastinfor'thirty minutes, is'necess'ary to destroyt ese spores: We find thatgenerally there are small pockets of air between some of the leaveswhich are being treated by the circulation of hot air and that some of"these pockets not be raised to a temperature sufliciently high to killthe nearby A acteria and spores. In order to heat the air in the pocketssulficiently to kill the bacteria and spores, we have, when "theillustrated a p'aratus'is emand E P and have unbolted the door Y andclosed the main door H. A pump or othercompr'essing fassuring thedestruction of the bacteria and spores. The supply of hot air is thencut-off and-the door H'un olted.

Instead of umping the hot air into the sterilizer'for t e 'purfppse ofheatin the air in st remove a1 or nearly all, of the air from thesterilizer, thereby at atmospheric pressure to enter mto the chamber.This will assure the entrance of the hot airfintoany'pockets. 4 u

The practice of the two ste s-first, thoroughly the tobacco be oresubjecting the same to a sterilizing action, and,second,

causing a vacuum'and then allowing hot air thoroughly sterilizing thesame by subjecting all parts of the Same to the heat of hot air resultsin the production. of dry sterilized tobacco with its structure andquality unin- 'ured, and while awaiting the addition of toacco bacteriathereto there will be no tendency of the leaves to rot or spoil. Thesterilized tobacco may then be set aside to be again subjected to asecond sterilization, if desired, in case undeveloped spores existing onthe tobacco have not been destroyed.

In carryin out the process it is desirable to prevent t'e heat fromescaping through the walls of the sterilizer, and in the form ofapparatus illustrated this is accom lished by maintaining'thesteam-jacket F fu of steam, and the heat of the steam also contributesto the heating of the air circulated or umped into the sterilizer. Thekeeping of t e inner walls of the sterilizer heated also prevents theaccumulation or precipitation of moisture therein. This is es eciallyadvantageous when the a paratus 1S employed to sterilize tobacco to beused for cigar-wrappers, which 2 5 if steam or precipitated moisturewere used would spot or pit the tobacco, decreasing its commercialvalue.

The tobacco having been thoroughly sterilized, and after coohng, isinoculated with bacteria obtained from tobacco the flavor of which is tobe re roduced or with cultures of such bacteria. e refer that theinoculation be produced by ipping the leaves into a culture, or theinoculatlon may be effected by 3 5 spraying onto or otherwise adding tothe tobacco a culture containing bacteria of the desired kind or kinds.For the purpose of producing the desired cultures bacteria are isolatedfrom tobacco (say Havana tobacco) and are grown in a suitablemediuma'water extract of ripe tobacco-leaves, for instance until theyreach a sufficient number, say one hundred million to the pound. Inorder to as-.-

certain whether the cultures are of the detrial lots 0 tobacco'may beinoculated and quickly fermented and the flavor tested by smoking orotherwise. The spraying of the cultures may be done by thoroughlyshaking the tobacco-leaves before a jet or stream into which thecultures are introduced, preferably at a right angle to the jet orstream, or bacteria and powdered licorice or other material suitable forbacteria food may be added. If desired,sprayin machinerymaybe used, and

the cultures a ded may be dry or liquid.

After inoculation the tobacco may be further moistened, if desired, andthen bulked down sired strength or of the proper kind, small ization byhot air was attempted the temperature of the air would necessarily bevery high (higher than that of steam) and that the articles undergoingsterilization would have to'be treated for a lon er time than when steamwas employed. i uch a process employing a long-continued hightemperature was believed to be useful only when tough hard materials ofthe same structure throughout for instance, earthenware, horsehair, &c.-were to be'sterilized. Tobacco-leaves, however, have hard and toughpartsthe stems and fibers and very tender soft parts, andbecause of the greatdifferences between the parts the hot air process of sterilization wouldbe considered inapplicable to tobacco, inasmuch as the leaves would beinjured and for wrapper purposes rendered useless. Our experiments havealso. demonstrated that when it is attemptedto sterilize tobacco bysubjecting it to hot air there are several practioal difficulties. Thesehave been overcome by our new process. The first of these-the tendencyof the tender parts of the leaf to become charred when the hightemperature is employedwe have overcome by causing the hot air to becirculated within thechamber and through the mass of tobacco, by whichexpedient we found the time of treatment of the. tobacco was materiallyreduced with de- 5 creased liability to' injure the tobacco. A seconddifliculty was that pocketsbetween leaves retained air and that thisprevented thorough sterilization at or near the pockets unless thetreatment was so'long continued as to injure the tobacco. As.hereinbefore described, this was overcome. by subjecting the tobacco tothe action of hot'air under pressure after circulating hot air throughthe sterilizer.- i

Among the advantages due .to using the hot-air modification of ourinvention are the following: The leaves are not discolored, spotted, 'orpitted and do not lose their gloss and when moistened'for use take waterwell .10 and are not left harsh, dry, or stiff, but retain theirflexibility and elasticity.

We do not herein claim the process of sterilizing tobacco,'then addingcharacterizing bacteria or cultures and bacterial food to the 1 15tobacco, and finally fermenting the same.

, The apparatus described herein and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings is one which we have found to be practical. Any

results almed at may be employed without .de afting from our invention.

at we claim, and desire to secure, is-

1. The process of treatment of tobacco, consisting in, first,\completely dryin the leaves of the tobacco, and then steri izing thetobacco by subjecting the same 'to the action of hot air under pressure,substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The process of treatment of tobacco, 1 o

consisting in, first, completely drying the leaves of the: tobacco, andthen sterilizingthe tobacco by subjecting the same to the action of asterilizing medium, substantially as and 5 for the purpose described-L3. The process of treatment of tobacco, consisting in 'sterllizing thetobacco by subjectin the same to the. action of hot air in ar-' tificiacirculation, and in direct contact with 10 the tobacco, substantially asand for the purpose described 7 r 4. The process of treatment oftobacco,

consisting in sterilizing the tobacco by subjectingthe'same to theaction of hot air in circulation, andsubsequently to the action of I 5hot air under pressure greater than-that of the atmosphere,substantially as and -for the purpose described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names this 19th day ofMarch, 1900.

- ALFRED C. BEDORTHA. GEORGE Q. BEDORTHA,

Inpresence of' FREDL P. Hour,

FRANK C. SUMNER-.-

